You now can’t even pray if you eat government cheese

But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city [of Port Wentworth, Georgia] to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state.

On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence.

The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn “Pig” Jones.

Tim Rutherford, Senior Citizens Inc. vice president, said some of his staff recently visited the center and noticed people praying shortly before lunch was served. Rutherford said his company provides meals like baked chicken, steak tips and rice and salads at a cost of about $6 a plate. Seniors taking the meals pay 55 cents and federal money foots the rest of the bill, Rutherford said.

“We can’t scoff at their rules,” he said of federal authorities. “It’s a part of the operational guidelines.”

As an American Taxpayer, I heartily approve this message. I think after 70+ years of Thanking the Lord for their food (in this case, the Lord would be Obama heyoooooo), that The Lord would forgive them for silently praying themselves, instead of having one person anointed to speak for them all.

Come on guys; it is an archaic ritual. Let the Constitution be the Constitution, or pony up for the program out of your church’s pockets.

Doesn’t the Bible tell Christians to feed the hungry? I don’t think our current “steal from the general population through taxation and give to the hungry and needy” was what Jesus had in mind.

Additionally, there’s nothing wrong with asking people to pray to themselves instead of making everyone sit through one blanket blessing. If it’s so important, I would imagine every single person there will be blessing their food, right? But how often do you ever see someone bless their food when they’re out to eat? After all, we’re in the middle of the Bible belt here, right? Did I miss a part in the Bible where it says “thou shalt bless your food unless you’re in a restaurant”? It’s interesting to see so much criticism (granted there’s not much here, but I’ve seen quite a bit other places) of this, yet I would venture to guess that most of those people don’t bless their food when they’re out on their own in public.

Yep… but that’s my point exactly. You’ve seen it a few times. With the number of “Christians” in this area, you would think you should see over half of the restaurant patrons blessing their food. My father-in-law blesses his food before every meal, no matter where we’re at. I wait patiently while he does so. But we eat out usually 3 to 5 times a week and I very rarely see anyone praying before they eat.

these are mostly little old ladies in a little old ga town, they pray before they eat–and from what i understand they were not just told they couldn’t have a blessing before their meal as a group–they were told to individually keep their mouth shut and have a moment of silence, and obviously it didn’t sit well, and was as much a violation of 1st ammendment rights as the often misrepresented “separation of church and state” is…

That’s different from what I’ve heard. Though I agree, if they’re praying as a group with voluntary participation while others go about eating their meal… that’s fine. But if before the food is served someone stands before the entire group – as in a church potluck or something – and everyone is supposed to be quiet during the prayer, and no food can be served until the prayer is said… then I’m opposed.

they do indeed often have a lead prayer, but when this new rule came up, they were told to “be quiet” and not pray aloud at all…someone offered the solution of claiming to only be praying over the portion they paid for and not the subsidized part…

Lets get rid of the Easter egg hunt at the white house, no more offical presidental events of any kind at the washington catherderal.
No more presidential use of any religous anything….. no traditions of any kind………..happy now!
All senior citizens go eat, pray as loud as you can and demand that they arrest you!!!!!! Get photos and most on web for the world to see.

I agree with you. And, while we’re at it, make sure that Congress so longer has prayers, too. If the Government is so against separation of “Church and State,” then why don’t THEY practice what they preach?

Do you really think Easter egg hunts have anything to do with Christianity? Have you never done any research of your own? Here’s a hint… go to Google and search for Ishtar bunnies and eggs and see what you find. I don’t think you’ll find many correlations between what you find and someone hanging on a cross.